Lily & the Marauders Read Harry Potter 1
by Bing Bing 9312
Summary: Lily & the Marauders get stuck in a room in Hogwarts and are told to read some books from the future by a weird note so they decide to play along. During their time in the room, they encounter many strange things in the books that will change their lives.
1. Arguments, Books, & Notes

Chapter 1: Arguments, Books & Notes

"No Potter! I will not go out with you! That is the last time that I'm going to say it." yelled Lily Evans as she walked away from James Potter and his friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.

She was sick and tired of him asking her out every day. He was obsessed and didn't understand that she hated him and his giant bloody ego. "But why not Evans?" he yelled after her as he and his fellow marauders followed her down the hall and into a random classroom that she walked into.

"Why not? Because you're a self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic, toe-rag of a bully! That's why not Potter! Now, leave me the bloody hell alone!" she screamed at him, walking around him.

She went to leave the room but was blocked by Sirius Black. He was standing in front of the door grinning like the madman that hat he was. "Black move the hell out of my way or I'm going to hex you so badly that Madame Pomfrey is going to wish that she never became a healer." she hissed menacingly.

He raised his eyebrow, still grinning, and said, "We both know that that's an empty threat Evans. Our perfect prefect wouldn't want to get detention." Her eyes narrowed. She lifted her wand and was about to utter the spell that would have vanished all of his precious hair when she heard a voice saying, "Padfoot, move. Let her go."

She couldn't believe her ears. Had James Potter just helped her? No way. She must have heard wrong. Obviously Sirius thought the same thing. "What? Prongs are you nuts? Why-" he started to ask when he was interrupted. "Because. Now, just let her go. She's not going to just up and change her mind." James answered downtrodden. Sirius, however, wasn't ready to give up so easily.

"But-"

"Move Padfoot!"

"Fine." Sirius grumbled as he side stepped out of her way.

"Thank You!" Lily spit out angrily.

She marched over to the door and wrenched it open. Or, at least that's what she would have done if it weren't for one tiny little detail. It was locked.

She turned around, put her hands on her hips and said, "Black, open this bloody door right now or so help me you'll regret it."

"Evans, open the bloody door yourself." said an indignant Sirius.

"I would open the bloody door if you would unlock it. In case you don't remember it's harder to undo somebody else's spell." Lily pointed out

(A.N. I know that isn't true but I couldn't think of any other reasonable reason for her to make him be the one to unlock it.)

"What the bloody hell are you talking about Evans?" Sirius asked with a genuine look of confusion on his face.

"What do you mean? You're the one that locked the door aren't you?" Lily asked. Sirius shook his head to show that he didn't. "I didn't even know it was locked."

"Potter, did you lock the door?" she asked, and when he also answered in the negative, she asked, "Remus, Peter, did one of you lock the door?" They shook their heads no. "And I didn't lock the door so who the bloody hell locked the door?" she screamed starting to become alarmed.

They all looked at each other and started to worry. So they all tried all of the different unlocking charms that they knew but to no avail. The door wouldn't budge. So with their spells not working, they started banging on the door, yelling for help. After an hour they got tired of banging on the door in vain and they decided to go sit down.

The classroom that they entered was more of a lounge than a classroom. There was a fire place in the middle of the right wall and a kitchenette in the corner of the right wall and the far wall. Across the room there was another door that led to a bathroom. On the left wall, there was another door that led into a bedroom with one king-sized bed in it. In the middle of the room was a two-person couch facing the fireplace and a love seat facing towards them (both of which were pull-out beds.) and a regular chair facing the love seat. The furniture looked like it was a set. In the middle of the seats was a coffee table.

"Does anyone else find it suspicious that this room, that people could comfortably live in for the rest of their lives, just appeared in the corridor but it wasn't there yesterday? Or the fact that we're locked in and we can't get out? Or that even though all of the student body had to have passed by this door on their way out of the Great Hall, nobody heard us banging on the door?" asked Remus while the others were getting comfy on the couch and chairs.

The others stopped arguing about who was going to sit where and looked at him. Now that he had mentioned it, they did think that it was way suspicious. Rooms don't just appear in a hallway, lock themselves, and put up silencing charms on themselves. Even in Hogwarts this was extremely odd.

They all looked at each other and in unison groaned, "Oh, crap!" Angered, Lily asked, "So, what? Is this a setup or something?"

"Yeah, I think it is. This is just great. What are we going to do? Who knows when we'll be found." James yelled. He was pissed that he couldn't do anything and that it was his fault in the first place that they were stuck in there. After all, it was him that had forced Lily into running into the room to try and get away from him.

Nobody said anything. They were all too busy thinking about what was happening to even really notice that James had even yelled. Then, all of a sudden, a light flashed above the coffee table and sitting directly underneath it was a book.

They all looked at it for a moment and then Sirius and James rushed for the book. The other three would have as well but Lily and Remus were too smart to touch something that appeared in a flash of light and Peter was too afraid to.

However, Remus and Lily's worries weren't needed. Nothing happened when James and Sirius touched the book. They grabbed it up and when nothing miraculous or special happened they frowned and dropped the book down onto the table and fell to the floor in disappointment. Lily, however, wasn't so easily put off. She went over to the book, picked it up from where the two boys had carelessly dropped it and read the title aloud "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

At the mention of his surname, James perked right up. Then Sirius did as well. All of them stood staring at the book in Lily's hands. Finally, a disbelieving Remus plucked the book out of Lily's hands and started to study it.

"Did that thing just say Potter?" asked Peter stupidly

"No, Pete. It said Rotter. Of course it said Potter you imbecile." Said Sirius sarcastically

"Are there any Harry's in your family Potter?" asked a weirded out Lily

"Not that I can think of." James finally decided upon. The four continued discussing whether or not it was real or if it had anything to do with James' family.

However, while they were talking, Remus was examining the book. It was a real published book. It knew about magical things such as sorcerer's stones, flying broomsticks, quidditch, giants, dragons, invisibility cloaks, and Hogwarts. Also, it knew about the Potters. The front cover had a picture of a boy that could have been an exact replica of James if it weren't for the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Then Remus had a thought. He opened the book to the copyrights page and there it was.

Text copyright © 1997 by J. K. Rowling. 1997. It was only 1977. That meant that the books were from twenty years in the future.

"Guys, check this out." said Remus in amazement. The others stopped talking and crowded around Remus. He pointed to the copyright date and the reactions came instantaneously. Remus was still staring at the book in amazement. Peter gasped, fell to the floor, and curled up into a ball shaking. Sirius' jaw flopped open in shock. Lily sat down; the gears in her brain speeding. The best reaction was James' though.

He started laughing and then said, "I knew it! Lily was right! This is a setup!" The others looked at him like he was crazy before they all came to the conclusion that somebody obviously wanted them to read the book in a place where they wouldn't get interrupted.

So, it was a great surprise when Sirius, the one that liked to read the least, said, "Well, since we're locked in here like somebody obviously wanted and we have nothing to do but read this book like somebody obviously planned, we might as well. Maybe if we play along, they'll let us out."

All of a sudden, a note fell onto the table from nowhere. Lily picked up the note (after checking it for spells of course) and read it to them.

_Congratulations! You figured it out Sirius. You're all right, except for Peter who hasn't said anything useful. Honestly, 'Did that thing just say Potter'. That had to have been one of the stupidest questions ever. I laughed when Sirius commented on Peter's stupid question. _

_Yes, this is a setup. Yes, I manipulated the five of you into this room. Yes, I put up locking, glamour, and silencing charms so powerful that even Dumbledore would never realize that you were here if I wanted it to be that way. Yes, I want the five of you to read the book. Yes, these books are from the future. Oh and yes Remus, the boy on the cover is exactly who you think he is but don't spoil the surprise for the others._

_No, I will not let you out after reading it, but by the time you finish I don't think that you'll want out. After you finish this book, there are more that it is imperative that you read. After the second book I will let Peter leave. After the fourth, I will drag Sirius out if that's what it takes. (I have a sinking feeling that I'll have to) After the sixth, Remus must leave also. When you leave you will literally not be able to tell anyone else about any of this and Remus will not be able to tell Sirius what they read after he left (and Sirius won't be able to tell Peter) until after James and Lily have finished the seventh and last book._

_Peter, Sirius , and Remus must leave when I specified because otherwise it could ruin the future (because of your reactions). I wish that you could all stay but trust me you will have a hard time handling it. If it weren't for the fact that Lily and James have a right to read the books, they wouldn't be able to read these at all, but I have a strong feeling that they'll be able to handle it._

_So, have fun reading._

_ Harry_

"Yeah, he wants to play mystery man? Well, it's working. I have three words for him. What, the, and Hell?" said Sirius confused, annoyed, and excited all at the same time.

"I actually agree with Sirius. This is just wrong. This Harry guy is messing with our heads. Playing us." said an angered James.

Remus looked at the note. It said not to spoil the surprise of who Harry really was and that James and Lily had the right to read the books. Then he looked at James. Screw what Harry wanted. He was not going to leave his friend in the dark.

He was about to tell James the truth when another note appeared right in front of Remus' feet. The others looked at him expectantly and so he sighed and picked it up. He went to read it out loud but found a silencing charm on him. He looked up and pointed to his mouth. The others, having understood what he was asking, shook their heads to tell him that they didn't do it.

He felt a tingling sensation run up his arms from his hands. It was the note. He read the note and was glad that Harry had put a silencing charm on him. The note read:

_DON'T TELL THEM! If you tell them my dirty little secret, I'll be forced to tell Lily yours Moony._

_Harry_

"Um, I can't tell you what was in the note. Sorry. If I tell you then he'll say something that I would really rather not have a female know." Remus said tentatively. The others looked at him funny but accepted his explanation.

Lily, being completely unfazed by his remark, suggested, "So, how about we start reading. The sooner we read, the sooner we find out what's going on." So, they agreed and went to sit down only to be reminded of their earlier problem.

Where they were going to sit.

Of course, Lily and Remus being the intelligent ones, plopped down in their ideal seat immediately. Lily sat in the chair and Remus made himself comfortable on the couch. The three standing boys saw this and the handsome two glared at them. Peter, scared of the looks Sirius and James were giving out, fell backwards. Right onto the remaining seat on the couch; leaving Sirius and James the love seat.

James and Sirius realized what had happened when they heard Lily trying to contain her giggles. They looked at each other, shrugged, walked over to the love seat, and started cuddling up to each other in mock love. Then, when everyone started busting up laughing, they stood up and bowed to their friends. Then they sat down normally and they picked up the book.

"I think that since I'm the one that got us that note and made Harry laugh, I should get to read first." said Sirius with about a pound of arrogance laced into it.

"Wow Black, I didn't know that you could read." Lily joked.

Sirius frowned and said, "So, can I please just read the first chapter?" Before anybody else could say anything, Remus answered that he could.

"Ok. Here we go. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

**A/N: I need your guys' opinions. First person to review who has an opinion, gets to decide. Should I post chapters with all of one chapter from the book in the story and have long breaks between updates or split the book chapter up and put it in more than one chapter in my story which will mean that the updates will come closer together? Did you get that? In other words:**

**1. In story's chapter- one whole chapter from HPSS and long breaks between updates**

** Or**

**2. In story's chapter- part of a chapter from HPSS and shorter breaks between updates (though still a while cause I have three other stories)**

**So lucky readers, what's it going to be? **


	2. Too Much

_Chapter One: Too Much _

**Chapter 1: The Boy Who lived**

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"You're welcome!" they all exclaimed

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. **

"That's a disgusting description. I feel bad for his wife." James said and they all muttered their agreement.

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. **

"Ha! She sounds like my sister. I think I feel bad for both of them." Lily stated in a tone that made it very clear that she didn't actually feel all that bad about it.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

"With parents like his, I doubt that." Peter squeaked

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret,-**

"A secret, a secret. Sha la la. A secret." James and Sirius sang. Lily looked at them like they had finally struck insanity. Remus sighed and put his head in his hands and Peter squirmed in his seat awkwardly.

Lily, still looking at them uncertainly, said, "That was… nice? Um… can you just keep reading please Sirius?"

"Sure thing my dear lady!" he cried dramatically. Remus looked at Lily. He was suspicious. That was the first time he had ever heard her call Sirius by his first name

-**and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"WHAT? What do you mean find out about the Potters? What about us?... How do you know about us? I thought that you were supposed to be 'normal'?" James shouted enraged and excited.

Remus rolled his eyes and said, "James?" Surprised at getting interrupted from his moment of anger, he answered, "What?" "Shut the bloody hell up and sit down." "…ok." So with James temporarily subdued, Sirius continued on.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley' sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

"UnDursleyish isn't a word and I really don't like the sound of these people." Lily muttered unaware of Remus doing the same thing, only adding in that his friend wasn't good-for-nothing.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.**

"Probably that they were cool and way better than their boring neighbors." James mumbled under his breath, tired of his family getting put down.

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never seen him. **

"Good!" the Marauders shouted.

**This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that**

If James could incinerate things just by looking at them, the book would have been toast with the he was glaring at it.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

The five teenagers all looked at each other in anticipation.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tied to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley a he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

"I'm surprised that he could fit into his car." Peter blurted out. The others looked at him oddly. Sirius, coming to his friend's rescue, said, "I'm surprised that after he squeezed himself into his car, it even moved." The remaining three nodded their agreement.

**`It was on** **the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar- a cat reading a map. **

"McGonagall!" James and Sirius said excitedly. Remus and Lily just shook their heads; doubtful.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen- then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light.**

"Yes, it definitely had to be a trick of the light. It couldn't possibly be magic, could it?" James said in a very sarcastic manner. Lily rolled her eyes and reminded him that muggles don't know about magic.

To this James smugly replied, "Yeah, but the Dursleys know about the Potters so they must know about magic too." Lily, surprised by this logic, just said, "Whatever."

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that says Privet Drive- no looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or**_** signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town, he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"Wow. What a boring job." Sirius stated as the others nodded their heads wholeheartedly.

**But on the outside of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangers dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes- the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. **

"Not really. It's been around for quite a while." Sirius said oblivious to the fact that he was talking to a book.

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that some of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald green cloak! The nerve of him! **

"Yeah!" James said. "Every smart person knows not to dress in Slytherin colors!"

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt- these people **

**were obviously collecting for something… yes that would be it.**

"Yes, because that's the only reason for someone to be dressed weirdly." Remus said with disgust.

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found-**

"A brain?" Lily suggested

"His toes?" Remus added

Sirius chimed in, "A crazy, hyper, ninja kitty?"

(A.N: Just thought that I would add that in. If you haven't ever read runewitchsakura's story about them, you should. It's hilarious. Anyway, back to the story.)

The others slowly turned to look at Sirius and they gave him mixtures of 'Are you crazy?' and 'What the Fuck?' looks. Sirius glanced around and said defensively, "What? It could happen!"

Lily replied slowly with, "Of course it could dear. It's perfectly- well. . . " She shook her head and continued, "Just keep reading." Sirius shrugged and read on but not before Remus once again noticed something weird between Sirius and Lily. She called him dear. Remus was going to have to keep an extra close eye on the two of them so that he could figure out what was going on there.

**-it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.**

"What a shame." James muttered, shaking his head..

**He yelled at five different people.**

"That's not something to be proud of." Remus said, also shaking his head.

**He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

Eyebrows rose.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy.**

The five students shared an excited look before Sirius continued reading.

**This bunch was whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting can.**

Remus rolled his eyes.

**It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

**"Yes, their son, Harry-"**

The five were sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He Dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking. . . no, he was being stupid. **

"Well, that's no surprise." James muttered as Peter nodded fervently.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called **_**Harry. **_**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her-if**_** he'd **_**had a sister like that. . . but all the same, those people in cloaks. . . **

"Again with the cloaks comment." Sirius said, annoyed. "It's getting kind of old." The rest nodded their agreement.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"Well that was rude." Lily said. "I hope the idiot at least apologized to the poor person."

"**Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. **

"Much better." Lily muttered.

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby stare,**

"Sound like Flitwick." James said in a tone that said that the Marauders knew meant that he wouldn't listen to reason. But Lily didn't care. "I don't think so but it doesn't really matter. I want to find out what happens. Keep reading Sirius."

Sirius swallowed. He had read the next few sentences while they were talking and was in shock. He replied, "Alright. But brace yourselves. This next one's a doozy."

So without letting anyone else talk, he continued reading.

"**Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!"**

They all had their eyes opened wide and their eyebrows raised. After a fraction of a second, the others all shouted, "What?"

"Holy shit!" James muttered as Peter gasped.

"I can't believe it." said a shocked Lily.

"This is amazing! He's gone at last!" Remus said excitedly.

Sirius, already over the original shock, said, "We should celebrate! It's not every day you find out that in a few yearsish the most evil dark lord in the history of magic is going to die!"

"He's right! Let's celebrate!" Lily said excited now too. She turned to him and said, "Merlin, Sirius you're a bloody genius!"

Remus narrowed his eyes as he watched Sirius grin at Lily's words. Something was definitely going on that only the two of them knew about, but Remus intended to find out what it was. He had a plan.

* * *

They had gotten up to look for snacks and such in the fridge in their little kitchenette but never even got that far. On the bar was a platter of snacks and next to that was a tray of shot glasses full of what they assumed was firewhiskey. So they took their newly acquired alcohol and snacks and went back to where they had been; moving the coffee table so that they could sit on the floor in a circle. Starting with Remus, from right to left around the circle, they sat in the following order: Remus, Lily, Sirius, Peter, and then James.

They decided that since they were given shot glasses and not real cups, they were going to use shot glasses for what they thought they were for. Getting people drunk and humiliating them at the same time. This was going to be the best 'Voldemort's going to die soon' party ever! Actually, it would be the only party like this but still.

"Okay, let's do… Concentration. The loser of each round will have to take a shot. Got it?" Lily said.

The boys looked at her blankly. They had no idea what that was.

"You guys don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" She asked and they promptly shook their heads. She sighed. So, she explained, "Concentration is actually rather easy. The only difficult part will be when the alcohol starts kicking in. Alright, so first thing's first. Put both your hands out and take your right hand and place it on top of the left hand of the person to your right. Now, when it's your turn, you'll take your right hand and _Gently_ slap the right hand of the person to your right and call out a word that fits into the category that is chosen then put your right hand back. Got it?"

They all nodded and Sirius asked, "How do we choose the category?"

She replied, "Well, I'll start for an example of the game. If it's my turn and the category was… candy, I would say licorice and slap your hand. Then you would go. So just do the motion without the words for a moment. As soon as your hand is slapped, slap the next person's. Alright? Let's try."

So they practiced and they got it. Going from one person to the next easily. So Lily said, "Okay. Don't stop. I'm going to start chanting. Next time you guys will do it with me so pay attention. Also, the instructions are in the chant so listen carefully. The person who's hand was slapped last when I finish with the word 'is' will choose the category. Got it?"

Once more they nodded and so she started, "This is Concentration. No repeats. No hesitation. Category is…"

(A.U.: thought I would actually explain for those of you poor souls who don't know what this awesome game is)

Sirius was the lucky person who got to choose the category and the dimwit chose…colors.

Sirius giggled and said black. The others rolled their eyes and continued.

Peter- green. James-red. Remus-gold. Lily-blue.

They also used silver, orange, yellow, brown, purple, white, gray, tan, almond, pink, cardinal, bronze, tangerine, amber, lavender, beige, auburn, violet, apricot, chartreuse, fuchsia, maroon, burgundy, ash, amethyst, turquoise, magenta, aqua, charcoal, lilac, and blonde.

Peter had had a hard time coming up with aqua and so when his next turn came, he didn't know any colors and so lost the first round. He was out of the game and had to take the first shot.

The next round's category, chosen by Lily, (hello, it's a girl's best friend) was candy. After a few times around the circle, just when the others were starting to have a hard time thinking of any, Remus lost. He moved from the circle and took his shot.

The game continued. This time James chose the category. Animals. However, the idiot didn't specify and so when they started scraping their brains for animals, it was Lily that started with magical animals such as thestrals. After that, they had a few more rounds before they once again started getting desperate. In the end, James lost at his own category. He sighed, moved over next to Remus, and took his shot as well.

Then it was just Sirius and Lily. She smirked and said, "You're going down Black."

He grinned and replied, "We'll see Evans." Remus frowned. If he paid enough attention, he could tell that even when they were just talking together, they were reminding each other of their secret. How could he not have noticed before now? Oh wait. Maybe being stuck in the same room with the both of them had something to do with it. Nonetheless, he was going to figure out their secret.

So, Lily and Sirius started the game again. Sirius once more chose the category. And when he said it. Wow. The three boys sitting out thought that he was a complete and utter idiot. However, Lily didn't. She actually frowned a little when Sirius stated his category.

Spells.

They each knew so many spells that it took at least ten minutes for them to get through one subject. To say that it took a while would be an understatement. It had been almost an hour (neither was willing to forfeit) when Lily had run out of legal spells and made the mistake of hesitating saying some of the illegal ones that she knew. Sirius' eyes widened and he grinned; saying, "You just hesitated. I win!"

The others' jaws dropped in disbelief. Lily on the other hand just gave a small sigh and gave Sirius a small smile. Or at least Remus was pretty sure that she had smiled at him. He couldn't be sure though. At least, not until he put his plan into action.

"Well as much fun as this has been," Remus started, "why don't we get to the real drinking game?" At this, the others all nodded their agreement. It had been fun. However, they didn't want to have fun. They wanted to have a party. A nice alcohol filled party. So they all got back into a circle (same seating as before) and started playing Never Have I Ever.

"Alright, since Sirius won Concentration, why don't we let him start?" James asked in a way that wasn't really asking but telling. The others nodded anyway.

"Before we start though," Remus began, "I think that we should make it magically binding so that we can't lie when we say what we've never done and we have to drink if we've done something that somebody else said they didn't do. That way we can be completely truthful. It'll make it more fun." The others once again agreed and so Remus cast the spell.

So, Sirius grinned as he started with, "Never have I ever lost at Concentration!" The others groaned, glared at him, and downed their shots.

"Never have I ever kissed a girl" Peter said, pathetically but with a glare towards Sirius. Sirius, Remus, James, and _Lily_,took a shot. The others all looked at her strangely with their eyes opened wide. At this Lily, blushed and muttered, "It was a dare."

Then James continued with, "Never have I ever wanted to punch a stranger as much as I want to punch this Harry guy."

The others looked at each other, shrugged and each took a shot; not minding in the least. Then Remus said, "Never have I ever wanted to tell a teacher that they were hot." Sirius glared and took his shot.

Lily said, "Never have I ever imagined any of you naked." Their eyes all widened as they thought of _her_naked. Then they realized what that meant. They all scowled or frowned before they each took their shot. Then Lily grinned and said, "The Power of Suggestion is a wonderful thing boys."

Sirius crossed his arms and said, "Never have I ever…" It continued from there with each of them taking their turns, trying to get the others to take a shot whenever it was possible. Finally when Remus could tell that the others were starting to get a bit more than buzzed, he took his turn and said, "Never have I ever snogged Lily Evans."

Peter frowned; confused. James scowled; thinking that Remus was making fun of him. Lily's eyes flew open and she turned one of the palest whites Remus had ever seen. Then Sirius took a deep breath and quickly downed his shot. James was glaring at Remus but managed to catch this in his peripheral vision. He snapped his head over to Sirius and started to glare once more.

"Explain. Now, Sirius." James barked out. At this Sirius swallowed and stammered, "I… erm-I asked Lily to go with me to Hogsmeade when you and the others got detention."

James narrowed his eyes and hissed, "That was September 27th. It's November 12th, Sirius!" Sirius looked down and replied, "We had such a good time, I decided to ask her to the Halloween Ball."

James looked shocked. "You brought your date for the Halloween Ball to the Marauder Bash too." James stated, feeling betrayed. Sirius swallowed again and nodded. James glanced over at Lily and asked, "That was you?" She nodded and replied, "Yeah, and I'm sorry James. I know that you fancy me but I just don't feel the same way. I've enjoyed everything we've done together in here and I care about you, but as a friend." She grabbed Sirius' hand and said, "I'm sorry James but I like Sirius, not you. And I don't care what you say or do; nothing's going to change that."

James looked at his lap as he thought. He loved her… didn't he? After what she had said, he wasn't sure. On one hand, he could picture himself next to her on their wedding day. On the other, more than that, he couldn't really see a future for them. As he thought this, James also thought about what it would be like to be just a friend, to be best man at _their_wedding, to be the godfather of one of _their_ children, and to watch them do the things that couples do daily. He could actually see it. It nearly brought tears to his eyes to realize this.

He looked up to see them both looking at him hopefully. "I reckon, you had best make me your best man at the wedding, mate. And dammit if I don't get to be your firstborn's godfather."

Sirius smiled and Lily threw herself at him and hugged him. He hugged her back briefly and then gently pulled her away. He looked at them and realized just how perfect they were for each other. James grinned and said, "It's my turn. Never have I ever been in love with Lily Evans or Sirius Black."

Sirius and Lily both looked blankly at him for a moment, blinked, and then smiled. They took their shots and then kissed. They broke apart when they heard a cough. Everyone turned towards Remus, who was the one who coughed. He grinned and said, "I would just like it to be known that I knew it. The two of you weren't as inconspicuous as you thought you were."

They blinked and then proceeded to bust up laughing. "You did this on purpose," Sirius started, "Didn't you, Moony?" Remus smiled and said, "Maybe just a little bit. Don't worry though, Sirius. If James had gotten violent, I would have stopped him from pummeling you to death." Sirius frowned as he considered that James _could _have tried to beat the crap out of him.

Lily saw this and said, "Don't worry, darling. He wouldn't have gotten anywhere near your perfect face. I wouldn't have let him." James frowned and asked, "Should I be scared?" Lily laughed and simply said, "Yes." They all laughed and took one last shot.

"Well as much fun as this has been, we should probably keep reading." James suggested, "We haven't even gotten half way through the first chapter and we have six books to read after this. Plus, Lily's making me nervous."

They all had a good laugh at James' expense. Then they put the coffee table back, with their snacks on it, and sat down. The new seating arrangement was Peter in the chair, Remus and James on the couch, and of course, Lily and Sirius on the love seat.

As they were about to start reading again, there was a flash of light and another note appeared. They all just stared at it and finally James picked it up and read it.

_It seems as if the past is changing. Because of my interference, Lily and Sirius are now together. I didn't know that they had dated but I can only assume that in the original timeline, they had broken up and so it wasn't important. In the original timeline, my timeline, Lily and James were together. I'm going to tell my own secret Remus. The boy on the cover is me. I'm Harry James Potter and James and Lily are my parents._

_When you leave this room, very little time will have passed in the outside world. When you leave this room, I will cease to exist. Because of this, it is now even more important that you read these books. That you read my story. It's a sad one, but one that must be known. Obviously, many of the things in these books will no longer be true, but some of it will. After you're finished reading, I'll leave you one last note telling you what's important to remember so that you can change the future for the better. Read on, but please as you are, don't cry for me. And when you leave, don't mourn for me. I'll be happier having never existed than having an existence in which I rarely found happiness. I'm sure I'll write to you all again later._

_My best wishes to you all,_

_Harry_

They all looked at each other surprised and also kind of sad. However, if because of the things they were doing, Harry was never born; they would respect his last wishes. They wouldn't cry for him. They wouldn't mourn. They would be happy. They would finish the books and use whatever knowledge was inside to make life better for everyone.

"So… should I keep reading?" Sirius asked hesitantly. The others nodded and Lily cuddled up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked over at her, rearranged them so that she was closer and he had his arm around her, and then continued reading where he had left off two or three hours previous.

**Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"What idiot doesn't approve of imagination?" Remus muttered

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw-and it didn't improve his mood- was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"McGonagall!" Sirius and James immediately shouted. Peter's face lit up as he nodded his agreement. Remus and Lily both shook their heads at their friends' foolishness. There were tons of stray cats in the world. What was the likelihood that the cat in the book was their transfiguration teacher?

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

Remus and Lily wavered. Maybe it was Professor McGonagall.

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. **

"Does he even know what normal is?" Peter asked

**When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any showers of owls tonight Jim?"**

They all rolled their eyes. That was a dumb joke.

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know bout that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper of the Potters… **

"Yes?" James asked excitedly

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er- Petunia, dear- you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they usually pretended she didn't have a sister.**

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls…shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

**"**_**So?"**_** snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

"Gee, somebody's got a stick up their bum." James said and Lily gave a big nod as she said, "Oh yeah."

**"Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… **_**her **_**crowd."**

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lily hissed. Sirius pulled her closer to him and said, "It doesn't matter, love. You're so much better than them." She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks. You're so wonderful." She reached up to kiss him and he smiled. Then, with that crisis averted, he continued reading.

**"Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son- he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"We didn't." they all said grumpily.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things?**

"I thought that he didn't believe in imagination?" Peter asked.

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of- well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

They all glared at the book.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were **_**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on- he yawned and turned over- it couldn't affect **_**them**_**…**

"Wrong." They all said as they shook their heads.

**How very wrong he was.**

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no signs of sleepiness. It was sitting still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"That's so McGonagall." James said and Remus actually told him that it was possible.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have though he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

The boys all stared at Lily as if to say, you'd better believe it now. She sighed and nudged Sirius; his cue to keep reading.

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue boys were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

They all gave Lily the stare again. She looked from each of them and said, "Fine." They grinned and Sirius continued.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he didn't seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

"What should he have known?" Sirius and James shouted.

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again-the next amp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

At this, their eyebrows raised. They knew their headmaster was crazy but this was a bit weird.

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

The boys looked at Lily with 'I Told You So' looks adorning their faces. "Alright, you were right and I was wrong. Happy?" she said and they grinned.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather sever-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. **

"Bloody people, wearing bloody Slytherin colors." James muttered

**Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no- even the Muggles have noticed something's going on.**

"Well, they were bound to notice something. The darkest wizard we've seen since Grindelwald died and it's sure to make for a good excuse to throw a party." James stated matter-of-factly. "Besides, they're not stupid. Even Muggles are going to realize something's going on with the way all witches and wizards must be acting."

**It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something.**

At this, everyone looked at James; thinking. Then Sirius started giggling. Their eyes flashed over to him to try to identify what had made him giggle. Him of all people. Sirius laughed some more and said, "James is a mini Minnie." Lily gave him a look that clearly said What the Hell Are You On? and the other Marauders, knowing the nickname for McGonagall, started laughing too. Lily glared as she didn't appreciate not being in on the joke. She slapped Sirius upside the head; immediately stopping his laughing. He looked down at her and grinned. He leaned down and kissed her. As they broke apart, she smiled and thumped the book; signaling that she wanted him to keep reading.

**Shooting stars down in Kent-I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently.**

"Yes we can," They all said rebelliously.

"**We've had had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

They all shared an excited look. Lord Voldemort had first made his appearance about two years before they had started Hogwarts. That meant that in about two years, Voldemort would be dead.

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't so she went on, "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all.**

"She's right you know," Remus started, "It wouldn't be all that great if the Muggles found out about us because we were being reckless while celebrating." The others all muttered their agreement.

**I suppose he really **_**has**_** gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A **_**what**_**?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"I don't really think now is the time for lemon drops." Lily muttered so that only Sirius could hear her.

**"No, thank you," said professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.**

Sirius stopped reading and blinked. He looked over at Lily and smiled. She met his eyes and understood what it was he was thinking as she blushed and looked away. "Hey Padfoot, what's up?" asked a confused James. Sirius looked over at James and replied, "Nothing. Just thinking," Then he added in a lower voice, "Great minds think alike, love."

"**As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has**_** gone-"**

**"My dear professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense- for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort**_**." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"You know, I've never understood that either. And I'm pureblood, so I don't even have the excuse of not being aware that people just don't say his name. I think it's stupid," James agreed wholeheartedly.

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh all right, **_**Voldemort**_**, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too- well- **_**noble**_** to use them."**

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Wow! Way too much information. I could have gone the rest of my life without knowing that and have been perfectly happy." Lily stated disgustedly.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" **

"WHAT!" was shouted from all of the people in the room as they sat at the edge of their seats; excited to hear what had happened.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.**

A shudder passed through the room as Sirius read this. They all knew what it was like to feel one of McGonagall's stares.

**It was plain that what "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

"Wait a second," Remus began. "Professor McGonagall is smart and reasonable. What on Earth could possibly make her doubt her own logic?" As Remus asked this, Lily bit her lip; thinking. James and Peter just shrugged because they didn't particularly care. Sirius, on the other hand, read ahead and his eyes widened. He sucked in a breath and everyone else turned to him.

Sirius looked up. "It's- well… I think maybe it would be best if I just read it to you."

**"What they're **_**saying**_**," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are- are- that they're- **_**dead**_**."**

Lily looked as if she was about to pass out so Sirius quickly put the book down and pulled her closer to him; his arms encircling her. He rubbed her back and muttered to her that everything was going to be alright.

James, Remus, and Peter were shocked but they were fine for the most part. James quickly dealt with his issues; realizing that, since he and Lily would never marry in this timeline, things wouldn't be happening the same as in the book. He looked over at his best mate and his mate's girl. No, things wouldn't happen the way they did in the book. And he didn't want them to. He was happy with the way things were.

"Lily," James started. "it's alright. That isn't going to happen again. Voldemort won't find or hurt us. Any of us. Besides, you're with Sirius now. You'll be safe. Don't worry. Everything's going to work out. You'll see."

Lily looked at him and realized that he meant everything that he had said. She smiled softly. "Thank you, James." She looked back to Sirius and kissed him. As she snuggled back into her earlier position, she nudged Sirius. He smiled and read on; glad that everyone wasn't getting too upset.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James…I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"**

The Marauders' eyes were as wide as saucers. They couldn't believe it. Remus- the first one to get over the original shock- said, "I can't believe it. I never thought the day would come when Professor McGonagall was sad that one of was gone."

Lily giggled and they looked at her as if she was crazy. "Of course she's sad. James is dead. Do you really think that she would be happy about that? She often says that she actually rather enjoys your pranks and such. She does like you. All of you. She cares more for you guys than you could know. She told me once, that you all remind her of her son before he died. She likes having you around. I think she'll be rather sad when we graduate."

They looked at each other and grinned. If Professor McGonagall thought of them as her sons, than they would treat her as their mother. From now on, Professor McGonagall's new nickname was Mom.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on.**

"There's more!" Lily half shouted, half whimpered.

"**That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But- he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke- and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

They all looked at each other; wanting to say something about what they had just learned, but had no words to properly fit what they wanted to say.

**"It's- it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"Five galleons say Dumbledore knows. Or at the very least, he has a theory that will end up being really close." Sirius grumbled. He wanted to know what had happened. So did James but he wasn't going to refuse a bet like that because of his bad mood. He quickly agreed to Sirius' bet. Then Sirius read on.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was very odd. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. **

James quickly got over his earlier bout of grumpiness and exclaimed, "My dad has one of those! They're awesome! He said he would give it to me for my seventeenth birthday." Of course there was only one flaw in this, which only Sirius saw. "Prongs, wasn't your birthday three weeks ago?" Then Remus, Lily, and Peter understood.

James, not seeing the logic in this question asked, "Yeah. Why?" Sirius blinked, not understanding how James couldn't see what he meant, so he pressed on, "Your _seventeenth_ birthday, Prongs?"

James _still _didn't understand so he answered hesitantly, "Yeah." Sirius closed his eyes for a brief moment and then asked, "And you still don't see it, do you?" James scowled. He didn't know what there was to see. Remus- taking pity on his friend- sighed and said, "Your seventeenth birthday was three weeks ago. Your dad promised to give you the watch on your seventeenth birthday and yet you don't have it."

James jumped up as he finally understood. He ran over to fireplace which had parchment, ink, and quills on top of it. He sat on the floor to reach the coffee table and quickly started writing. The others all looked at each other. They wanted to know what he was doing but none of them wanted to ask him.

Remus and Sirius quickly put their hands up in a way that clearly said not to look at them. Lily shook her head and pointed to Peter. Peter sighed and tentatively asked, "Prongs, what are you doing?" He looked up from his parchment because he could hear the tone in Peter's voice and responded with, "I'm going to send my dad a letter so that I can get that watch."

They gawked at him a moment before the boys (not including James) looked at Lily in a 'Your turn' way. She sighed and said, "First, James there are no owls here to send a letter with. Secondly, even if there was an owl, I don't see any windows. Do you?"

James blinked as he realized that, once again, he was being daft. He sighed and sat back down on the couch. "Keep reading, Padfoot."

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle.**

"WHAT!" Lily screamed. The others' jaws had dropped. Had Dumbledore gone even more insane than he already was? The Dursleys were terrible people for an orphaned wizard to go to live with. They hated anything that they considered to be not 'normal'. Harry would be treated like crap there. They shared another look. Now they were beginning to understand why Harry's note said his story was a sad one.

**They're the only family he has left now."**

Lily knew that Petunia was the only family left for Harry on her side because all of her other family members were dead but she hadn't even considered James' family. When James heard this, he paled considerably. His uncle, mum, dad, and eleven year old sister were the only family he had left at the moment and the book's events occurred in about two years. In less than two years, he would lose his family.

Sirius froze up too. Since he ran away before his fifth year at Hogwarts, he had lived with the Potters. He liked them. He had even come to think of James' parents as his own. James' Uncle PJ was Sirius' uncle. And Sarah. James' little sister; Sarah who was a miniature, female version of her older brother. She had just started Hogwarts this year and Sirius thought of her as his own little sister. He had once even accidentally called her that when defending her from a few of the Slytherins. Ever since then he had continued to call her that.

_(A.N: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. James was an only child and probably didn't have an Uncle PJ. Deal with it people. In this story he has a sister and an uncle. Get it? Got it? Good!)_

Sirius didn't know what he was going to do. He had already lost his family once, (except Andromeda and Tonks) he couldn't lose his second family too. Sirius may have been frozen but James was near hysterics. "What are we going to do? I can't lose my family. They're the most important people in my life. I don't know what I'd do without them. I have to save them! But I don't know how. I don't even know when they're going to die!"

Just then another flash of light surrounded them. Another note appeared. Lily read it.

(A.N: Italicized will always be Harry writing. Italicized and underlined will be someone else who's with Harry.)

_First, I thought that you should know that I'm in a room that exists outside of space and time. I'm not alone either. I'm here with several people from your original timeline, my timeline. It's weird, though, because I had to take people from different times because some people that I needed here died before I set all of this up. It really doesn't help that I have a future Sirius and even more future Snape in the same room. Sirius keeps calling Snape old and Snape keeps trying to hex Sirius for it._

At this everyone stared at Sirius. He grinned and said, "What? You can't blame me for that! Technically I haven't done anything. Actually, _I'll_ never really be in that situation." They kept staring and crossed their arms. It was clear to Sirius that they were all but saying that they could definitely blame him. He rolled his eyes and Lily continued reading Harry's note.

_Anyway, as you read on, I'll leave notes like these. After I leave each one, you should probably rewrite the important information onto another piece of paper so that you'll have it all together. Tell James to keep his knickers on. I know when a lot of the Death Eater attacks occur and by the time you've finished reading, you should have a pretty good-sized list of when, how, where, and how many death eaters, dementors, and werewolves will be attacking. _

_That's a lie. He doesn't know half of the attacks. He gets the information from everyone else here and then takes the credit for it. Bloody wanker. He's just using us. I'm so proud of him. That's my little Pronglet._

_Sorry about that. That's just Sirius being immature as usual. Sometimes, I think he needs reminding that I'm his godson and not the other way around. Oh well. So, the attacks. I think James has suffered enough. The death eaters will attack Potter Place on December 19__th__. James wasn't killed because he had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas vacation. James, make sure Sarah stays too. Also, have your parents come to the castle for the holidays and then they should put a few more wards up around the place. Oh, and as for Dumbledore, just tell him about the books and the gist of what they're about and he'll go along with it. If he doesn't, use the codes on the bottom of the note._

_Now, I think that that's all. I'll write later. Everyone here says bye, good luck, and have fun._

_Harry_

_(And too many other people to name)_

_Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak_

_To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure_

_It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to _

_our friends_

_It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live_

They all sat there for a few moments; thinking about everything that they had just been told. With the information that they would be receiving, they could save so many innocent lives. Even better though, they had the power. Adults always abuse it by turning the situation into something political or forgetting the insight that those younger than them have.

"Well, that was interesting. We should keep reading though. It's getting late." Lily urged.

"**You don't mean- you **_**can't**_** mean the people who live **_**here**_**?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore- you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter? Really? Does he honestly think that he explain everything in a letter?" Lily said disbelievingly.

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?**

The boys all gave Lily a look as she blinked surprisingly. De ja vu anyone?

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous- a legend- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future- there will be books written about Harry- every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"I guess I can see Dumbledore's point. Without all of the fame, Harry will be a better person and he'll be able to handle the stress that comes with the fame when he's old enough to understand it." Remus said reasonably.

Lily on the other hand was not to be reasoned with. "Not with my sister!" James and Peter nodded their heads. No on should have to be forced to live with the Dursleys. Sirius on the other hand, had been thinking throughout their conversation. He bit his lip and picked up the most recent note that they had gotten.

He called for the others' attentions and read: "'_Sometimes, I think he needs reminding that I'm his godson and not the other way around.' _Harry wrote that about me which means that in these books, I'm Harry's godfather. So why don't I have him? Why wasn't he given to me? What could have happened in the two years from now and then that could have possibly stopped me from taking him?"

They all frowned as they thought. Nothing. They couldn't think of anything that could keep Sirius from Harry if Lily and James had died. Sirius hopefully asked, "Harry? Any chance of you telling us?"

Another note appeared. This time it was somebody else's writing entirely. Actually four somebodies. The handwriting changed after each sentence.

_Nice try! _

_We're not telling you that. _

_Sorry, it would spoil the surprise._

_Suffice it to say that you'll find out in the third book._

_James, Sirius, Lily, and Remus_

"Well, that was different." Peter said. "Though, I don't think I even want to know why _I _didn't write anything." The others all said, "Good idea." So with nothing left, they kept reading.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes- yes, you're right, of course.**

Lily glared at the book in her boyfriend's hands.

**But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"He better not be." Lily grumbled

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

Lily looked worried for a moment and then decided that Harry would be okay.

**"You think it- **_**wise**_**- to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

They all glared at the book. They trusted Hagrid and they didn't like what she was implying about him. They only regretted that they couldn't glare about it to her face. Little did they know that the room Harry was in, James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus were doing the glaring for them. And Professor McGonagall even had the decency to blush.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

They all kept their mouths firmly shut. They may trust Hagrid, but maybe not with their lives.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to- what was that?" **

"What?" shouted Remus, Peter, James, and Lily. Sirius looked up from the book and stared at them. Then he said, "You lot are idiots. I wasn't saying that I heard something. It's what Mom said in the book." The others all looked at each other; feeling rather stupid and said, "Ohhhhh." Sirius shook his head and kept reading.

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street, for some signs of a headlight; it swelled to a roar s they both looked up at the sky- and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

The boys' jaws dropped and Sirius exclaimed, "Wicked! I want one!" Lily cleared her throat and looked at him with her eyebrows raised. Sirius blinked and said, "Please?" She snorted and replied, "Not a chance in Hell." Sirius' shoulders drooped and he pouted. She glared at him. He then gave her the puppy dog pout. She rolled her eyes and compromised. "We'll talk about it. But if you do, you have to get a Muggle license for it. Without using magic to get the license." Sirius sprung back up with a smile on his face. Again, Lily rolled her eyes. She rested her head against his arm as he continued reading.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing compared to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild- long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved.**

"Wait. If he trusts Hagrid with his life, why is Dumbledore so relieved?" Peter asked rather smartly. The others all just shrugged. Dumbledore never made much sense.

"**At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. **

They all looked to find out why Sirius had stopped reading to see him grinning like a madman.

"**Young Sirius Black lent it to me.**

Lily frowned. She bit her lip and said, "Don't think that just because you have one in this story means that you'll be getting one." And before he could say anything, she added, "You had one when you weren't dating me. Now, we're dating and I don't think I like the idea of you having a flying motorcycle." Sirius frowned a little but kept reading.

**I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there**?"

**"No, sir- house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmed' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

They all sucked in a breath. They didn't need to be told what it was from. It was obvious that it was from Voldemort trying to kill poor little Harry.

**"Is that where-?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a- **

"Perfect map of the London Underground. We know." the Marauders all said together. Lily furrowed her brow. Remus, seeing this, explained, "Dumbledore tells us that story almost every time we go to his office." James continued, "We think that he does it in an attempt to get us to stop getting into so much trouble that we get sent to his office."

**Well- give him here, Hagrid- we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

"No," Lily grumbled sadly.

**"Could I- could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

They all adopted looks of disgust at this. Poor, poor Harry.

**Then suddenly Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

Sirius glared at the book in his hands and, without thinking, said, "I take offense to that." The other boys had wide eyes as they realized what Sirius had just said. Lily looked up at Sirius, confused. "Why would you take offense to that?" she asked suspiciously. Then Sirius realized what he had said and froze up.

Lily looked at the others and Remus sighed. He swallowed and said, "It's not exactly something that he can tell you without me telling you my secret first. So, you have to promise- no, swear to me that you won't tell a soul, Lily. Please."

She looked at Sirius and then back at Remus, who now looked desperate for her to agree. She bit her lip, thinking and then suddenly realized what it was that Remus was going to tell her. She blinked and started laughing as the boys all looked at her as if she were crazy.

As she started to calm down, she managed to tell them why she was laughing. "You don't honestly think- oh my god- that I haven't- oh bloody hell- figured out that- wow- Remus is a werewolf." The boys gaped at her as she said this and Remus paled.

She finally stopped laughing to see their reactions and was surprised. She looked back and forth between them all and then said, "Really? You think I'm not smart enough to figure it out. It wasn't that hard once I set out to figure it out. Between his lame excuses, his absences around the full moon, his sick look, and his boggart, it was easy." Catching their panicked looks, she added, "But I wouldn't worry if I were you. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that _has_ figured it out. I don't plan on telling anyone either if that's what you're worried about. Your secret's safe with me."

They all let out the breaths that they had been holding and Remus said, "Thank you Lily. I appreciate it. Now, Padfoot. Since you were the daft idiot that put your foot in it, you can tell her the rest." Sirius got a look on his face that said he really didn't want to but he did any way.

He took a deep breath and explained, "Well, when we found out that Remus was a werewolf, we decided that we wanted to be able to help him. Of course, werewolves are dangerous to humans so we couldn't, but then we got an idea. What if there _was_ a way for us to be with Remus during his transformations without risking our lives?"

"There's not." she said firmly. Sirius ignored her.

"So we did some research. We found the answer the next day when McGonagall showed us her cat form again. Werewolves are only dangerous to humans. Not to animals. So, we decided to learn how to become animagi. It took us about 3 ½ years before we could manage it, but toward the middle of our 5th year, we did it."

"What! Are you crazy? You could have been killed!" Lily shrieked, disbelievingly. Again, Sirius ignored her.

"Remus transforms in the Shrieking Shack. There's a passage to it underneath the Whomping Willow. We got lucky. Peter's form, a rat, is small enough to slip between the branches and hit the knot on the tree that freezes it. Then James and I would jump down and before we got to the Shack, we would transform. Being around Remus in our animal forms helped calm his inner wolf. He wouldn't hurt himself as much and he was able to remember the night's events the next morning."

"I understand that it was to help Remus but for Merlin's sake! That was completely irresponsible!" she started again. Sirius just kept going, though.

"Then, one day, I had a thought. It was fun in the Shack but there was a limited amount of space. So, I thought, we could leave. We could go explore the grounds. Remus was hesitant at first but we managed to prod him out of the passage away from the treee. After that, we went into the forest. See, James transforms into a stag and I turn into a giant dog. Between the two of us, we could keep Remus in line. So, that's what our nicknames are about. Remus, as a werewolf, is Moony. Peter, as a rat, is Wormtail. James, as a stag, is Prongs. I'm Padfoot because I'm a dog. That's why I said that I take offense to the simile the book used."

Lily looked at them all and considered screaming again. The boys flinched as they thought that she _was_ going to scream. Then she did something that none of them expected. She fainted. "I think she took that well." James said calmly. Peter nodded his agreement.

Sirius shook his head and attempted to wake her. He lightly shook her by the shoulder and called her name. As she came to, she looked up at him and moaned as she remembered. Then she said, "You are a complete and utter idiot… Will you teach me?"

Sirius smiled at her and gently asked, "Teach you what, sweetie? How to be an idiot?" When Remus heard her question, he knew immediately what she had meant. He was shocked but also extremely grateful that she would be willing to break the law to help him too. So, when Sirius asked what she meant Remus snorted. Sirius could be a downright imbecile sometimes.

So Remus quickly said, "Sirius that is not what she meant. Lily, I appreciate it but I don't want you to think that you're obligated. You're not. You don't have to do that." Sirius frowned; confused still. Lily, on the other hand, smiled and replied, "I don't feel obligated. I want to help." Then she turned back to Sirius and asked, "So, will you teach me to become an animagus?" His eyes widened as he heard her question. Then a big smile reached his face and he replied, "Of course." She smiled too and kissed him.

Peter cleared his throat and they all stopped what they were doing to look at him. "Sorry, but it's a little less than a half an hour until midnight. I thought maybe we should keep reading so that we can go to sleep soon." The others nodded their agreement and they settled down again. Sirius picked up the book and continued reading.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it- Lily an' James dead- an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles-"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

They all looked solemn as they heard this. It was rare that the twinkling in Dumbledore's eyes went out. It signified that things were indeed very bad.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be taken Sirius his bike back.**

"Oh, I wish he wouldn't." Lily said suddenly.

**G'night, Professor McGonagall- Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

Once more, looks of disgust were adorned on the faces of the four teenagers in the room.

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the top step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"He will have luck. When someone comes to get him the hell away from my sister." Lily said angrily.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter- the boy who lived!"**

"That's it. That's the end of the chapter." Sirius said as he marked where he left off and set the book down on the coffee table. Lily looked at the clock to see that it was fifteen till. "Alright, it's late. We should get to bed. How about we start reading tomorrow at tenish? Sound good?" They all nodded their agreement and stood to go to bed when they remembered that there was only one room with a single bed in it.

Insert flash of light here. Harry had left them another note. Remus read:

_The other room was originally for James and Lily. However, since things aren't going the way that I thought they would, Sirius and Lily will share the room. The couch and the love seat both unfold into beds. There's enough room for two of you on the couch and one of you on the love seat. Have Lily help you get them out._

_Good night._

_Harry_

Sirius glanced at Lily and asked, "Are you going to be okay with sharing the bed? If you're not, I'll make Peter sleep on the floor." She chuckled, stood up on her tip-toes, and gave him a very passionate kiss. "Is that a good enough answer for you?" she whispered.

He grinned and said, "Good night guys. Let's go Lily." She threw her head back and laughed as he tried to drag her off to their room. "Hold on, Sirius. It might help if I showed the boys how to get their beds out."

Sirius growled and picked her up to take her to their room. She shrieked and Sirius snarled, "They can figure it out themselves." He took her into their room and slammed the door behind him, leaving the other Marauders to stand there and stare at the door.

After a minute of this, Peter slowly began to ask, "They're not going to-"

"Uhh-huhhh." James and Remus both replied while still staring at the door.

Peter frowned and started to ask, "Do they realize that we-"

"Yep."

"And they're still gonna-"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

They all stared at the door for another minute or two until they heard the first moan. Then, with wide eyes, they placed a quick 'muffliato' on Sirius and Lily's room. They went back to what they were doing before all of that happened and went about trying to get the beds out. After twenty minutes of struggle and a lot of help from Remus, the three of them were in bed. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.


	3. Revenge List

_**Chapter Three: Revenge List**_

As she awoke, Lily had the strangest feeling that she was being watched. She groaned and attempted to roll over to go back to sleep. Sirius chuckled and held onto her. He bent his head down and nibbled on her ear. She gasped with shock and sat up. Her eyes widened as the sheets pooled around her waist. She snatched them up to cover her bare chest but before she could, Sirius stopped her.

He grabbed her hands and she jerked her eyes over to him. They widened and then closed as emotions passed through her. When she opened them, it was with a sigh of relief. "Sirius, you scared the shit out of me." she said softly. He laughed and took her hands once more and brought them above her head and forced her back into a laying position. He rolled on top of her and held her hands above her with one hand. His other hand trailed gently down her body, stopping at her waist.

"Sorry love. I couldn't help myself," he grinned and continued, "I didn't mean to wake you." She rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well that he had probably been trying to do the exact opposite of what he said. He kissed her and when he pulled back, it was with a bigger smile. "Of course, now that you're awake, maybe we could. . ." He kissed her neck to tell her what he thought they could do. Her eyes widened again and she was about to respond to him when a knock came at their door.

Sirius growled and said, "Go away!" There was laughter from outside and the door cracked open. Sirius quickly pulled the sheets up to cover them. Then James stuck his head in with eyes obviously closed and said, "It's 9:45. If you aren't out by 10:15, we're going to start reading without you." Then he closed the door and left.

Sirius glared at the door where his best friend had just been. Lily laughed softly which brought Sirius' attention back to her. He grinned and bent to kiss her. When his kiss started to turn into more, however, Lily rolled him over so that she was on top of him. He grinned again and went still. She kissed him once more and got up. She moved from the bed and walked into their private bathroom. (A/N: I don't know if I mentioned before that there was a bathroom in there room but there is. Sorry for any confusion.) Sirius watched her go in disbelief. He blinked as he heard the shower turn on. Then he frowned as he wondered why she had left.

As he sat up, she walked back into the room, still completely naked, and asked, "Are you coming or not?" Sirius' face lit up and he quickly bounded out of bed. He ran into the bathroom, dragging a laughing Lily behind him.

At 10:10, Sirius and Lily walked out after showering (with a little bit more than just washing going on) and getting dressed. Sirius flopped down into their seat immediately while Lily walked over to the kitchenette and grabbed some cereal for the both of them. She walked back over and handed him his. He gave her a thankful smile and kissed her before beginning to eat.

She was about to eat but stopped. She looked over at the other boys and asked, "So, I think that we should be able to get through two or three chapters today so who's going to read first?" They looked at her and then pointed to Remus except for Remus who just shook his head; knowing that James and Peter would point to him. He held out his hand and waited for someone to hand him the book. He didn't have to wait long.

James quickly handed it to him so that they could get started. Remus opened it up to the marked page and began to read.

**Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass**

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. **

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Peter asked. They all looked at each other. They had a bad feeling about this.

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door, it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley has seen that fateful news report about the owls.**

James snickered quietly. He thought that it was funny that Muggles could get so worked up over something as simple as owls in the daylight.

**Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets- but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blonde boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house too.**

"WHAT!" Lily narrowed her eyes at the book. Her 'son' had better be alright or when she graduated from Hogwarts, Petunia would be in for the lecture of her life.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

Lily snorted at the 'shrill voice' part. Her sister's voice was worse than a banshee's and they didn't even exist! What an understatement!

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

"Bitch." Sirius muttered. Lily nodded her agreement.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it.**

Sirius grinned and Lily rolled her eyes. She pointedly took another bite of her breakfast.

**He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

James made a sound of disgust. His poor 'son'.

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

Lily glared. Oh, yes. Petunia would definitely be getting a lecture and to prove her point, Lily would make sure that Petunia found herself on the wrong side of Lily's wand. Her sister would pay.

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"**Nothing, nothing. . ."**

**Dudley's birthday- how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because**-

Remus stopped. "You're not going to like this." he said before continuing.

**Because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

Instead of the shouts that Remus expected, there was silence. They all looked angry, or course, but none of them were taking it out on him. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Lily disentangled herself from Sirius and purposefully strode over to the fireplace mantel and grabbed the parchment, ink, and quill. She walked back over and sat down on the floor by the coffee table. She dipped the quill into the ink well and started writing.

People To Get Revenge On For Hurting Harry

Petunia Evans-Dursley

Voldemort

Sirius looked over her shoulder as she wrote and grinned. He started laughing like the madman that everyone knows he is. "That's brilliant! Anyone who hurts Harry physically or emotionally can be put on the list. Then we can make sure that they pay!" Lily grinned and said, "That's the idea. And I'll even be gracious enough to have it alternate as to how they pay. Since I came up with the idea and Petunia's my sister, I get to pay her back my way and then you lot can get the next person on the list your way. Then me, then you. Easy. It's the least we can do for Harry."

They all grinned and nodded their agreement.

**When he was dressed, he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents.**

Lily made a strangling noise. "That spoiled brat!"

**It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise- unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,**

"That bastard! He hit Harry!" Sirius exclaimed angrily. Remus glared at the book in his hands, Peter had a disgusted look on his face, James had his wand in hand and looked like he was about to kill someone, and Lily was shaking with anger. She took a deep breath and grabbed the quill and Revenge parchment off of the table and added:

Dudley Dursley

"Please go on Remus." Lily managed after a few more calming breaths. He looked up at her and nodded.

**But he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"Well, there's that, I guess." Sirius mumbled grumpily.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"Unfortunately, no. That's probably just genetics. James has always been fairly small and Lily is pretty skinny too. Of course, the cupboard thing probably didn't help any." Remus pondered.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"Well, he must have gotten the thin face from Lily, the knobbly knees and obviously the black hair from James, and he definitely got his mother's beautiful eyes." Sirius said. James narrowed his eyes at Sirius. "I do not have knobbly knees. He must have gotten those somewhere else." Lily glared and was about to make a remark but Sirius beat her to it. "She doesn't have knobbly knees. Trust me." The last part was said with a smirk. Lily rolled her eyes and rolled up her jeans to prove that she didn't have knobbly knees.

Remus said brightly, "Nope. Definitely not knobbly. He must have gotten them from you, James." James glared. Remus grinned. "Anyway. . ." Lily began and gestured toward the book. Remus settled down and once more, continued to read.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

Five glares pierced the book but it did not make Dudley Dursley burst into flames as they wished that it had.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

"You've got to be kidding me. Me and Lily die in a car crash? That's ridiculous!" James cried. Lily looked at him and said, "Yeah it is. And 'don't ask questions'? He was probably only four or five. How can they expect him to not ask questions? That's what kids do!"

The others looked angry again too. Remus shook his head and read on.

_**Don't ask questions**_**- that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

They all glared except James who laughed. When they turned to look at him, he explained, "Harry has finally won! He inherited the curse of the Potter hair. It's untamable! It is literally impossible to get it to cooperate. No hair product, Muggle or magical, can get it to lay straight." He finished with another bout of laughter. The others all smiled too. It was nice that Harry finally had a victory over the Dursleys.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way- all over the place. **

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel- Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

They all looked at each other and started busting up laughing. When the laughter was starting to die down a little, James fell off his seat which caused the laughter to start right back up again. Then Sirius stuttered through his laughter, "H-Harry said . . . p-pig . . . w-wig . . . and J-James . . . f-f-fell. . ." At this point though, he started laughing twice as hard and couldn't continue. The others all found this amusing though and their laughter returned ten-fold. They laughed until they couldn't even remember why they had originally started laughing. Which they found funny. The laughter started again.

Finally, they quieted down and were getting their breath back when Remus started giggling. They chuckled and snickered. It got funny again and they were fighting to keep in the laughter until Lily broke and laughed. Once more, they laughed.

After twenty minutes of their random fits of laughter, they were done. They sobered up and Remus found his place in the book that had somehow made it all the way over to Lily during their laughing attack. He cleared his throat.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"That child is the worst mannered kid that I have ever heard of." Peter said as the others nodded whole-heartedly.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another **_**two **_**presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? **_**Two **_**more presents. Is that all right?"**

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty . . . thirty . . ."**

Remus paused. "You've got to be kidding me. The little brat doesn't even know how to add two to thirty-seven. This is ridiculous." He said shaking his head before reading on.

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"That horrid man! Why does he think that spoiling his son rotten is okay?" Lily spit out. She grabbed her Revenge List and added:

Vernon Dursley

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

**At the moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

They shared a quick glance. This didn't sound like it was going to be good for Harry.

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg.**

"Wow, she's actually able to feel compassion?" Peter asked in a daze. He thought that the Dursleys weren't capable of kindness. Remus was quick to correct him. "No. Just listen to the rest of it."

**She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"Cow." Lily said loudly.

"Yeah." James agreed and then added, "Haven't we met an elderly woman named Arabella Figg?"

Sirius thought and said, "Well, yeah. She's always coming around to talk to Dumbledore. I don't know, though. It could be her. I mean what're the odds that it isn't? That it's some other Mrs. Figg?" The others muttered their agreement and the reading began again.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there.**

"Harry Potter! It is not polite to call people mad." Lily lectured to the air. Or the book. The boys weren't exactly sure.

"Yeah! Even if they are. For instance, I never call Lily mad to her face or behind her back." James jumped in. Lily glared at him.

**The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"Right. We'll have to talk to her about that next time we see her." Remus said before carrying on.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this.**

"Somehow, I doubt that he did." Lily said, rolling her eyes. James just grinned and said, "Yeah, it's unlikely but think about it. If he did plan it, he's a bloody genius!" Lily just rolled her eyes again.

**Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

The teens' eyebrows all rose. That woman was insane. . . She was a crazy cat lady!

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy.**

"Who the bloody hell is Marge?" Lily demanded. James, being the idiot that he is, responded, "Lily, you do realize that you're talking to a book, right?" Lily turned to him with a glare and a slight blush on her face.

"Why-" Lily started but Remus, who had sensed an argument coming, started reading over her.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there- or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend- Yvonne?" **

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"Like a snapping turtle. Or a Chihuahua," Sirius said. They gave him the 'What the Hell' look. He saw this and got defensive. "Hey, those things are scary, okay, especially when they're angry!" He shuddered as he remembered his last incident with his aunt's crazy dog. "Okay," Remus said slowly and then looked back down at the book and read.

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"Nice try Harry. However, I really don't think that it'll work." James grumbled.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"She looks like that all of the time." Lily commented. Peter snickered.

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"Like a Chihuahua." Sirius said, nodding as though it made perfect sense, and to him it probably did. Peter looked as if he were about to comment but didn't. The others all decided that the comment shouldn't be graced with a response.

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, ". . . and leave him in the car . . ."**

"Ridiculous." Remus mumbled.

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone . . ."**

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying- it had been years since he'd really cried- but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"Not ridiculous. Pathetic is more like it." James said with a disgusted sneer.

"**Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

Lily snorted and the boys all laughed. Dinky Duddydums? They couldn't believe it. It was hilarious and just what the great prat deserved.

"**I . . . don't . . . want . . . him . . . t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then the doorbell rang- "Oh good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically- and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

"I take offense." A glaring Peter said.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

The teenagers fumed. How could he be ten and never have been to the zoo. Other than Sirius, who had purist parents, all of them had been to the zoo when they were kids. James was a pure-blood, Peter and Remus were half-bloods, and Lily was muggle-born so she had obviously gone but the others had too.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"**I'm warning you," he said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy- any funny business, anything at all- and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly . . ."**

"He won't believe you Harry," Peter and Remus both said.

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange thing often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"Accidental magic," Lily whispered.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find it exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, event though he had tried to explain that he **_**couldn't**_** explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

The boys all scowled and glared at the book but Lily, Lily was furious! She was shaking with anger. She was trying to hold it in but she couldn't, she exploded. "How could she! She knows that it wasn't his fault! She knows about accidental magic! Hell, she even knows that our hair grows back overnight if we want it to! When I was seven, one of the boys in my class got gum stuck in my hair and my mom had to cut a big section off. It was like an inch long on the side of my head. I was so worried that I would get laughed at and then the next morning I found my hair like it had been before the gum incident. She knows that it wasn't his fault! She knows!"

The Marauders all glared at the book, hoping to be able to get revenge on the Dursleys for Harry. Then James got a brilliant idea. He got up and took the Revenge list from Lily and put two tally marks next to Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley's names. With a smile, he handed it back to Lily. She looked at it and grinned.

"So, if a name's on the list, we pay them back and any tally marks next to the person's name means they get extra payback?" Lily asked hopefully. James smiled evilly and nodded. Lily leaned back into Sirius and smiled.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

Lily quickly added another tally mark next to Petunia's name.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Well, there's that, at least." Sirius said warily.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

Lily grabbed her list and added a tally mark next to Dudley and Vernon's names as she said, "I wonder how he got up there, though." The boys thought and came up with three possible conclusions. "Well, Lily," James started, "he probably either apparated, portkeyed, or somehow flew." Lily bit her lip. Then Sirius added, "Well, I don't think he apparated. He would have felt it. It's an odd sensation, one that can't be missed. Then there's the fact that portkeys also have an obvious spinning sensation that he would have felt. And flying . . ."

Peter quickly added that Harry wouldn't even have been able to get a hold of a portkey. Then Remus said, "If he had flown, somehow, then he might have just missed the . . . time between his jump and landing. It's the only plausible explanation."

"Yeah. I guess it's not important anyway, except for the fact that Harry got in trouble for it." Lily said. They nodded.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong.**

"Oh no," Peter groaned. Lily looked up and said loudly, "Harry? Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law?" A note appeared and Peter grabbed it.

_No. Why? What is it?_

They shared a look and then Remus started, "Well, you see, Murphy's Law states that-" James continued, "Anything that can go wrong-" Sirius finished, "will go wrong."

"Yeah. But that's not all-" Peter said before Lily cut him off. "Murphy likes to pick on people who don't know about his law." Another note appeared.

_Lovely. That's explains SO MUCH! _

They looked at each other again before Remus took a deep breath and read on.

Somewhere, Murphy was laughing.

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.**

Another tally mark made its way to Vernon Dursley's name on the Revenge list.

**This morning, it was-**

Remus broke off and grinned. He looked over at Sirius and finished: '**motorcycles**'. Sirius blinked and grinned. Lily rolled her eyes and leaned up to kiss him. "If it makes you happy, you can get a flying motorcycle." He shot up with a "YES!" Lily laughed softly and then said, "BUT you still have to get a muggle license WITHOUT magic." He nodded his head fervently. She shook her head and stood up. She pushed him down onto the love seat and then sat down on his lap; snuggling into him lovingly. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against the top of her head.

"You really love her, don't you, Padfoot?" James asked gently. Lily glanced over at him but Sirius' eyes never left Lily. "Yes. I do." He kissed her and then pulled her closer to him; tightening his hold on her. James, Remus, and Peter smiled.

"**. . . roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

James gave Sirius a smirk. Sirius gave James the bird.

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"Probably not a good idea, Harry." Peter said while shaking his head.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Of course, they don't. Not until I'm through with them." Sirius said in a simple manner.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

"No, it wasn't," they all said.

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon- they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van asked what Harry wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. **

"Good for her. At least Harry got that much." Lily said happily.

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except it wasn't blond.**

They all snickered at the thought that Dudley looked a lot like a gorilla but blond. Leave it to Harry to get them to laugh at random points in the story. At least it was only a short laugh that time.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

Lily gave Dudley another mark and added Piers Polkiss as well.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

"While I definitely do not approve of their parenting, but at least Harry was happy about getting to finish the thing." Remus said before continuing.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons.**

Lily shuddered. "I absolutely hate snakes." Sirius tightened his slack hold on her.

**Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can- but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

They were all waiting in anticipation for the mistake that would get Harry into trouble.

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself- no company except stupid people trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at lest he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

_**It winked.**_

Sirius stiffened beneath Lily and she closed her eyes. No one liked the way that this was heading.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

"_**I get that all the time."**_

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

They all sat, thinking for a few minutes. Then Lily said, "I highly doubt that he's evil just because he's a parselmouth. After all, he's my 'son'. It is most definitely extremely creepy and just plain wrong but it doesn't change anything." The marauders thought for a second and then all four of them nodded.

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil**

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see- so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T **_**BELIEVE **_**WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

Lily snorted out her laughter and said, "He has to waddle because he's so fat? That's pathetic. And if he has to waddle, he probably took a while to get over to the snake." The boys snickered and nodded.

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.**

Another tally mark was added to Dudley's name.

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened- one second Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

The Marauders snickered. They did so love it when panic and chaos occurred. Plus, this gave them a great idea for a prank.

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come . . . Thanksss, amigo." **

Lily shuddered again and Sirius squeezed her briefly to show that he was there for her.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"Poor Harry. He's going to be in trouble for that now." James said grumpily. Lily added a tally mark to Piers' name.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go- cupboard- stay- no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

Lily glared and added a tally mark to Vernon's name. Remus said that there was a break in the story so he suggested that they take a ten minute break too. Lily removed herself from Sirius' embrace and grabbed their forgotten breakfast bowls and took them over to the sink in the kitchenette, where they washed themselves.

Peter went to the bathroom. James snickered quietly. Peter came out a moment after Lily sat back down and glared. He was sopping wet. "Okay, which one of you charmed the shower to turn on and spray me?" Lily performed a drying spell on Peter and then turned on Sirius with a glare. He put his hands up in the universal 'Don't look at me' and Lily saw James trying to hide a smile. She took her wand and twirled it at an unknowing James.

Sirius burst out laughing. James had a Slytherin green, pointy hat with silver lettering saying DUNCE on it. And if he had to guess, he would bet that there was a timed sticking charm on it.

James conjured a mirror and grinned when he saw it. It was a good payback. He sat down and waited for Remus to continue reading. Remus looked around and asked, "Is everyone ready?" They nodded.

**Harry lay in his cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in the cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

"Holy cow, he remembers some of it. That proves that we died from Avada Kedavra. Not that there was ever any doubt, but now it's confirmed. He survived the killing curse." James said, amazed. The others agreed.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

Lily let out a sob and buried her face into Sirius' shoulder.

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"He didn't even know what we looked like." James mumbled sadly.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened: the Dursleys were his only family.**

James blinked rapidly to hold back the tears. He didn't want to think about his uncle, parents, and sister dying.

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.**

The teenagers all grinned knowingly. The wizarding world would be grateful to Harry for defeating Voldemort. They would want to acknowledge that in some way or another.

**After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without even buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed in all green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all the people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one.**

"What?" Lily asked, sadly.

**Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"That's it." Remus said. After she added a tally mark to Dudley's name, Lily gestured for the book. She wanted to read next. After it was passed over to her, she set it on her lap and began.


End file.
